TITLE: Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection Initiates Proceedings Against Supergrosz Service Provider
BODY:
On July 30, 2026, Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) initiated proceedings against Aiqlabs, the company operating the Supergrosz online lending service. The authority alleges that Aiqlabs artificially inflated fees associated with credit cards and misled consumers through contract terms.
UOKiK's investigation found that consumers applying for standard instalment loans on Supergrosz.pl unknowingly became subject to a complex legal procedure. Alongside loan financing, Aiqlabs simultaneously established credit card limits in consumers' names. The authority identified several deceptive practices. First, Aiqlabs obtained powers of attorney from consumers and then executed credit card agreements with itself, simultaneously acting as both lender and the consumer's representative. Second, the company calculated initial card fees as a percentage of artificially high initial credit limits, then immediately reduced those limits through contract amendments while retaining fees calculated on the original, fictional amounts. In one example cited by UOKiK, a consumer was assigned a credit limit of PLN 12,500, with initial fees of PLN 2,925 calculated on that amount. The limit was then reduced to PLN 2,500—the actual amount available to the consumer. Had fees been calculated on the actual amount, they would have totalled only PLN 625, meaning the consumer paid over four times the appropriate fee. Third, Aiqlabs listed initial card fees as "0 zł" in contracts while actually charging and automatically deducting these fees from the parallel instalment loan amount, thereby misleading consumers about true financing costs.
Aiqlabs faces potential penalties of up to ten percent of its turnover. UOKiK has published consumer guidance recommending verification of Annual Percentage Rates (RRSO), rejection of unnecessary additional products, careful review of powers of attorney, verification of actual disbursed amounts, and use of the statutory fourteen-day withdrawal period for consumer credit agreements.